Forty-three restaurants will set up booths along Main Street. / PATRICK COLLARD / Staff

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HEIDI HEILBRUNN/Staff

With a tagline like “taste of our town,” it’s no surprise that Fall for Greenville is all about the food.

Forty-two restaurants will line up and down Main Street to offer more than 150 different foods, ranging from fish tacos and sushi rolls to doughnut burgers, jerk chicken, souvlaki, barbecue and much, much more.

City spokeswoman Tara Eaker said 12 of this year’s participating restaurants are new — or newly returned — to the festival.

“It’s their way to show off their restaurant to the Upstate in a small way,” she said.

Among those counted as new this year is classic Greek restaurant Never on Sunday, a Coffee Street staple for 45 years.

The restaurant used to participate in Fall for Greenville but quit sometime in the last decade. Now Iris Turner, who is starting to take over for her retiring aunt and uncle, is excited to have Never on Sunday back in the lineup.

“We are off Main Street, so we’re hidden for a lot of people,” she said. Being front and center with their authentic Greek dishes will remind a new generation of diners what’s just a block away, she said.

Tealoha, opened several months ago on McBee Street, is another newcomer.

“We’re a new business in town,” said owner Jun Li. “We just want people to try it out and see how it is and what it’s made of.”

It helps, both restaurateurs said, that Fall for Greenville draws an estimated 150,000 people to downtown Greenville for its three-day run.

In recent years, organizers have begun to limit the scope of Fall for Greenville so that every participating restaurant is a locally based one, Eaker said.

“In the past we have had some chains participate in the event, and we’ve moved way from that so that we are trying to solely focus on Greenville,” she said.

Though the restaurants and their food are the heart of the festival, the fun food isn’t limited to just the vendors.

Also going on throughout the weekend are cooking demos from Charleston Cooks! offered free to festivalgoers Saturday and Sunday.

The lineup includes tutorials on tailgate finger foods, Southern cakes and a “Smoking and Grilling 101.” Specific event times are available online at www.fallforgreenville.net.

Competitions are also a time-honored tradition of Fall for Greenville. Two waiters’ races will be held: one Friday for representatives from local media and one Sunday for the real pros.

A bartenders’ mix-off on Sunday will pit six finalists in a challenge not only to make the best signature drink for the festival but also to best one another in “Top Chef”-style challenges with mystery ingredients.

And, as always, there are rewards for the best food going — a US Foods Silver Spoon award chosen by food writers, chefs and other professionals — announced Saturday — and a People’s Choice award based on votes from festivalgoers. A voting ticket comes with each purchase of taste tickets, and diners can cast their votes by dropping their votes into ballot boxes at each restaurant’s stand. The winner of the People’s Choice award will be announced Sunday.